Earthquake alerts Pamlico to repair needs at county courthouse

Charlie Hall, Sun Journal Staff

Tuesday

Jan 15, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 15, 2013 at 5:07 PM

BAYBORO — A 2011 earthquake left concerns about damage to the Pamlico County Courthouse and prompted county officials to have a full inspection of the 75-year-old building and its attached annex, which dates to 1974.

BAYBORO — A 2011 earthquake left concerns about damage to the Pamlico County Courthouse and prompted county officials to have a full inspection of the 75-year-old building and its attached annex, which dates to 1974.

A buildings and grounds committee of commissioners identified 17 areas of priority during a meeting Monday afternoon. The list will go to the full Board of Commissioners at its Jan. 22 meeting, with a recommendation that the work projects go out for bids.

County Manager Tim Buck said some of the identified problems could be related to the earthquake, but that was not confirmed.

“The engineer never indicated that it was due to it,” said Buck, of the August 2011 tremor that shook the buildings at Courthouse Square. “I can’t tell you for sure, but afterwards we started looking around and saw some cracks and some settling.”

Some possible quake-related damage included at least two outdoor stairway entrances where cracks occurred and there was separation of railings and the main landing from the building.

“We did feel the building shake. It did rattle it,” Buck recalled. “Then, we had a pretty big hurricane (Irene) a few days later and that brought a lot of water, so those are two possible factors. The engineer recommended that we make the repairs, but there was no indication of any immediate threat.”

The three-man committee of Commissioners Carl Ollison, Jimmy Spain and Kenny Heath met with Buck, county Public Buildings Director Garry Cooper and Building Inspector Skip Lee.

They also identified a number of repair jobs that could be handled by county staff.

Buck said there was no cost estimate on what the contracted repairs will cost until bids are received. He told the committee that about $70,000 was available to put toward the project, which would come from budgeted funds for replacement of the courthouse heating and air conditioning unit.

Engineered Foundation Solutions of Durham conducted the inspection and gave a list of 36 recommendations for the two buildings, including 24 in the original 1938 courthouse.

Spain said he was pleased with the report, given the age of the buildings.

“I am totally surprised our courthouse is in as good a shape as it is,” he said.

Heath said he was pleased that, despite some identified problems with leaks and standing water under the building, there were no identified mold problems.

Ollison suggested the committee rank the problems by priority, and the group then spent two hours going over recommendations, with accompanying photos.

At the top of the list is a potentially expensive item: testing for the presence of asbestos and lead-based paint in some areas prior to any repair work.

The list of courthouse repairs includes replacing all decayed and damaged floor joists; replacing decayed wood posts below stairs leading to the basement; re-pointing missing and damaged mortar joints; adding screw jacks to a portion of the basement; and re-routing a drain line under the hallway between the old courthouse and annex.

Several repair items were lumped together, including repairing the exterior entrance steps at two locations on the east side of the courthouse; and removing the concrete surface from a foyer in the east end of the building and replacing the floor framing.

Another set of repairs includes applying water repellant to the courthouse exterior brick; replacing or painting corroded flashing on a section of the roof; repairing gutters; and connecting downspouts on the front of the building to a drain system that discharges into a catch basin.

Annex repairs include repairing corroded joists that cause standing water under the building; injecting non-shrink grout around ends of some joists that have voids under them; re-pointing cracks in masonry on interior and exterior; cutting the lower edge of steps on the front of the building; and replacing a section of sidewalk.

Charlie Hall can be reached at 635-5667 or charlie.hall@newbernsj.com.

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